Saturday, November 17, 2012

Air France Rio-Paris Flight Diverted to Casablanca

Passengers at Casablanca airport experienced lengthy delays yesterday (Friday 16th) and although no explanation was given at the time, it appears it was due to the need to find extra seats for 201 passengers from a damaged Air France airliner.

'Even getting through passport control and security took longer than ever,' one passenger told The View from Fez, 'and then we were standing in queues awaiting boarding for the longest time'.

The Air France Airbus A330 had been heading from Rio to Paris but was forced to make an emergency landing in Casablanca due to damage to one of its two engines. According to an Air France spokeswoman the aircraft, which had left Brazil’s southern city of Rio Thursday and was carrying 201 passengers and 12 crew members including three pilots, had been diverted according to safety guidelines.

She said a technical investigation was under way to determine what happened, and added that passengers had been transferred to other flights headed for Paris.

The aircraft, an Airbus A330, was the same model as the Air France airliner that plunged into the Atlantic in 2009 and killed all 228 people aboard during a Rio to Paris flight.

In a July report, French accident investigators concluded that technical faults led an ill-prepared crew to lose control, resulting in the airliner’s crash.

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The View from Fez aims to promote interest and understanding of life in Fez in particular and Morocco in general. The View from Fez is produced in Fez by the registered company: The View from Fez (Pat: 40461390). Our contributors are based in the Fez Medina and in other centres around Morocco. We welcome contributions from writers and photographers across the country.